


Misconceptions in a Name

by generic_cherry_soda



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, i wrote this when the episode came out solely to familiarize myself with janus' name
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:49:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25983898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/generic_cherry_soda/pseuds/generic_cherry_soda
Summary: He had told them his name. That was a step in the right direction. When you’re boiled down to one singular function, the pure action of lying and deceiving, it’s not hard to see how certain misconceptions could arise. Yes, he was Deceit. But he was more than that too.
Relationships: Deceit | Janus Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 13
Kudos: 98





	Misconceptions in a Name

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting a fic on ao3 so please bear with me if I got something wrong with the formatting. 
> 
> I wrote this back in May after the episode came out just so I could familiarize myself with Janus' name and it turned into a platonic loceit hurt/comfort fic that I'm decently proud of. Hope you enjoy!

“Thomas, I thought I was your hero.”

“You- you are!”

Roman looked over at Janus, and Janus nodded. Of course Roman was his hero, it was why he had felt the need to flatter and attempt to win over Roman so many times before. Thomas would never listen to the snake faced deceiver but his hero? Janus always knew that Roman was his best bet. 

Now of course, that’s not how Roman took it. As someone who believed that everything the side said was a lie it wasn’t hard for him to misunderstand. Roman had silently asked if what Thomas said was a lie, and Janus nodded. And everything that Roman thought he knew came crashing down. Everything said from that point sounded like static to the fanciful side. He couldn’t hear them, he didn’t want to. After standing dumbfounded for a moment and barely comprehending anything that he even said, he sunk out, retreating to his room.

Janus was confused. He wasn’t sure what it was that he had done wrong. But after a few moments of contemplation he realized his error. He kept it inside until his conversation with Thomas was over and he had the chance to retreat to his own abode. The ecstasy of being listened to and heard and told that he was right was already wearing off the second he appeared back in his room. He flopped down on his bed and thought everything over.

He had told them his name. That was a step in the right direction. When you’re boiled down to one singular function, the pure action of lying and deceiving, it’s not hard to see how certain misconceptions could arise. Yes, he was Deceit. But he was more than that too. The same way that Patton became more than morality the second Thomas finally learned his name. And how Virgil became more than just anxiety when he finally ripped the bandaid off. Janus laughed to himself as he thought of Remus. How eager he had been to tell Thomas his name in hopes that he could become more than just unwanted “intrusive thoughts.” Then again Janus wasn’t entirely sure how conscious Remus was of that. 

He thought about why he had taken so long to reveal his name in the first place. He was the last of the sides currently known to Thomas that had been refined to such a title, and in his mind it was the most constricting of all. So why keep the label for such a long time? Yes, he thought that fear would help him get his point across easier, but it hadn’t worked for Virgil, so looking back he didn’t know why he thought it would work for him. 

He let a sharp agitated breath out as he thought of Virgil. He had managed to get it right, to get Thomas to listen to him and accept him, and hadn’t even bothered to bring the others along. As someone with a strong sense of self preservation he didn’t feel like he could blame him too much, although at one time he considered Virgil family. Virgil had a new family now, and Janus knew it, but he still couldn’t accept it. And he knew that the anxious side wouldn’t be ready to accept him anytime soon once he learned that Thomas had started to consider his input. 

Janus shook his head and tried to refocus his thoughts. He supposed he waited so long because, shocking everybody, he didn’t want to tell the truth. The truth meant being vulnerable. Janus hated being vulnerable. He supposed that he was also a bit afraid of the change that came with it. He wasn’t just Deceit anymore, he was more than that. As a whole he always felt like he was more than that, but he supposed that Patton never allowed the others to see him that way. 

The snake faced side heard a knock at his door. Quickly sitting up straight and fixing his hat, he cleared his throat and said for whoever was at the door to come in. He wasn’t sure who he was expecting, but he was certainly surprised when a certain logical side stood in the doorway. 

“Well, if it isn’t-” Janus started, about to make some sarcastic remark about the day’s events, but he stopped himself. Logan looked, well, tired. Tired, and agitated, and a little bit angry, but mostly he just was tired. But he stayed in the doorway, still not wanting to intrude without a direct invitation. 

Janus motioned for him to come in and Logan closed the door behind him, resisting the urge to pace back and forth. Eventually he settled for sitting at the desk across the room from Janus’ bed. He glanced at the papers scattered on the desk’s surface, moral philosophy papers and books about law. Logan took a deep breath as he straightened his tie. Both of them sat in an uncharacteristic silence for a time, seemingly searching for the right words to say. Janus sighed, looking over at the exhausted side. He had already swallowed his pride enough by revealing his name, what was one more low? 

“Thank you for-”

Logan held a hand up for him to stop and Janus, while taken aback, obliged. “You got them to listen to you. To listen to you as me.” He looked up at the side sitting on the bed with tired eyes. “How?”

Janus was taken aback. What could he mean? He was one of the light sides, of course he was listened to, Thomas accepted and valued him, he was one of the sides that Thomas had had standing with him from the beginning! He had everything that Janus worked for, the whole reason he had worked so hard at imitating him was so that he could finally be listened to. Janus had worked so hard to keep Logan out of the courtroom because he knew without Logan gone he had no hope of even being considered.

Noticing the shocked expression, Logan let out a dry laugh. “Don’t attempt to flatter me Deceit. Just tell me how you did it.”

The deceitful side sighed as he met the logical side’s eyes. “Do you know why I chose to imitate you? Why not just go in as myself and hope for the best, or why not imitate Roman or Virgil or even Patton again? Why it had to be you?”

Logan rolled his eyes. “Because logic has a habit of tearing holes in fabrications. It’s only logical that you want me out of the picture.”

“But it’s never been just that, no the reason it had to be you was because there was no other way for me to be listened to.”

“You and I both know how much of a false-”

Janus shook his head. “I’m telling the truth Logan. Today was the first time Thomas has ever consciously listened to me. And I learned all that I know from imitating you.”

Logan narrowed his eyes and looked away, standing up. “I should’ve known better than to come to you for help.” He sighed as he walked to the door. “Goodnight Deceit.”

It was the same thing that had happened with Roman. A simple misunderstanding caused by the idea that all that he spoke were lies. He was Deceit after all. That was still all he was to Logan. Janus furrowed his eyebrows and stood up.

“Why are you still calling me that?” He spoke before he could stop himself. 

Logan, taken aback, turned around and cocked his head in curiosity. “You have not as of yet shared your name with me, so I thought-”

“You’re Thomas’ logic aren’t you? You know all of what he knows, all the facts stored in his head, all the little insignificant details and statistics and any piece of evidence you could use for any pointless argument, so why should I have to tell you what you already know?”

Logan’s eyebrows raised in shock, thinking for a moment before responding. “Deceit, I’m Thomas’ logic, yes, but you can’t expect me to have infinite knowledge on every little thing. You know as well as I that Thomas’ mental health has not been in the best of states as of late. And well…” He gestured to himself. 

Janus hadn’t noticed before but not only did his eyes betray the signs of his exhaustion, but everything about him was disheveled. No wonder he had chosen that pixelated form for the video, he was barely holding it together. His tie was loose, his hair was a mess, his glasses were crooked, everything was wrong. And Janus could tell that Logan hated it. 

“It’s been taking a toll on all of us Deceit, of course, but he’s stopped listening to me almost entirely. Even more than what I’ve come to accept as normal. I’ve been having a harder time remembering things because Thomas has been having a harder time remembering things. I’m hardly able to fulfil my main function as logic anymore because of all of this emotional turmoil that I don’t even fully understand. Which just adds to my problem, doesn’t it? Even with all the facts and pieces of information I have at my disposal, Thomas has managed to worm his way into a problem that, frankly, he can’t just “logic” his way out of. And then you swoop in, stealing my identity once again after Patton and by extension Thomas makes it crystal clear that he doesn’t want to listen to me, and you find a way to magically get their attention. And-”

Janus stepped forward and put his hands on Logan’s shoulders, stopping the side in his tracks. While he was talking, Janus could see Logan getting more and more worked up with every word, and he knew exactly how he felt. He knew how it felt to try again and again just for your arguments and hours of research to fall on deaf ears. And with the added strain of the constant moral dilemmas that Thomas had been dealing with as of late, well, he could see what it was doing to Logan. 

He removed his arms from the other side’s shoulders and straightened down his shirt. “Janus. My name. I told Thomas once you left.”

Logan looked at Janus with an unreadable expression. He had stopped shaking since the dark side had walked over to him and as much as he tried, Janus couldn’t read what it was that Logan was thinking.

“Janus.” A small smile found its way to Logan’s lips. “Like the roman god.”

Janus nodded. 

“Thank you for sharing.”

He nodded again. 

Logan sighed and brought his hands to his face before running his hands through his messy hair. “I apologize for oversharing. I should go, I have work I should be doing.”  
As he turned to go, Janus grabbed his hand before he could stop himself. As soon as he realized what he had done he pulled his hand back like he had touched a hot stove. He fumbled with his words a bit to find what to say.

“Today has been quite a day for the both of us. I’m _sure_ it wouldn’t be good for you at _all_ to take a short break from all of your work when you’re in such a state.”

__Logan looked unsure as he looked into the snake man’s eyes, but he eventually nodded and let Janus lead him back to the desk to sit down. Janus pulled up a chair next to him and started organizing the papers on his desk while Logan watched with interest. Eventually Logan’s exhaustion got the better of him and he started looking like he was going to doze off. Janus got up for a moment to grab him a blanket and draped it around his shoulders. However he knew there was something he had to say before he allowed the side to drift off to sleep. He sighed as he turned off the lights in his room, intent on letting the exhausted side get some sleep._ _

__“Thank you. Really. For your speech today. I… I appreciated it.”_ _

__Logan looked up from his half asleep position leaning on the snake’s desk and smiled slightly for a moment before letting himself finally get some rest. Janus sighed as he laid down on his own bed, wondering when it was that he had gotten so soft._ _


End file.
